An extension of the Common Sense Journalism monthly column by Doug Fisher, former broadcaster, newspaper reporter and wire service editor. From new media to old, much of journalism is just plain common sense."In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Unknown (often improperly attributed to Thomas Jefferson)
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
"Common sense is not so common" - Voltaire
"Common sense is instinct; enough of it is genius" - George Bernard Shaw

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Couple of quick links

New writing site worth checking out, from the Brits:www.explorewriting.co.ukPretty basic stuff, but a wide range of writing, from journalism to business.

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A really cool site is Waveland Public Officials. A community group in Waveland, Miss., is using the blog to post the answers to a questionnaire filled out by city council members. Waveland, you might remember, was one of the areas hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Development and coastal issues are big there. As the president of Coastal Community Watch, Ellis Anderson, notes on the group's other site, many people still live out of town and are checking the sites to keep up to date.

On Waveland Public Officials, he writes:

We're introducing this forum so that Waveland city candidates can share their views on developmental issues that will affect us all. CCW is NOT endorsing any particular candidate in this election. We're merely providing information to help you make an educated decision.All 11 candidates still in the running after the primaries agreed to participate in our forum.The day after the primaries, they were given a list of 8 questionsand asked to return their responses to us within one week (the deadline being November 15th, 5pm).Nine of the eleven returned responses. We've posted their photos, a 100 word statement of their choice and given them a page of their own to respond - with no space limit. After the elections, the winners' profiles and answers will be featured on this site on a permanent basis.

<I think this is a great use of the Web and hope to see a lot more of it. It would be easy to get snarky, take potshots and general rant like so many sites do. This provides a solid service, it seems, for people in that area -- and for those who want to vote absentee and can't be there. I'd love to see the League of Women Voters or other groups try to establish such sites for everyplace in the nation.

Yes, I do coaching and consulting. That is the only shameless commerce you'll get from me here. Go to the bottom of the blog for more details.
Who am I: A longtime print and broadcast reporter/editor/producer and then AP news editor who now professes journalism at the University of South Carolina. (But please note, nothing on this blog represents official university policy or sentiment. If it did, I'd be very concerned.)My point: That journalism is a great occupation, that most journalism is common sense and that our problems arise when we sometimes don't use it.What's covered: My interests center on editing and writing and on editors and the challenges they face in a changing environment. I'm convinced editors are not being trained enough to face these challenges, but that common sense rules the day. I'm heavily involved in Newsplex, the new-media newsroom at the University of South Carolina. But my interests are wide-ranging, so anything, from ethics to some aspects of Web design, is fair game.
Hope you find something here worthwhile.

Common Sense Journalism &nbspYes, I do seminars and consulting. Among those I have worked with are the SNPA Traveling Campus, S.C. Press Association, N.Y. Press Association, Georgia Press Association, Mississippi Press Association, Virginia Press Association, Landmark Community Newspapers, American Copy Editors Society, Society of Professional Journalists, Lancaster (S.C.) News, The (Rock Hill, S.C.) Herald, The (Sumter, S.C.) Item, the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration. Contact me for more information.